Coromandel Peninsula and my last hours in New Zealand

Hens and Chicks. I was utterly fascinated by the colors and texture of these plants.

Their Flowers

In a row

My last morning in New Zealand. I couldn't resist bringing the camera to breakfast. Glad I did.

Hot Water Beach. In the center of the frame at the base of that rocky outcrop, a hot spring bubbles to the surface. When the tide is out, you can dig into the sand and find unbelievably hot water. Between the cold sea salt water, the hot mineral water and the cool morning breeze, this was a very therapeutic experience. What they didn't tell us at the information center, tourist books and during various social interactions is that digging a hole in the surf to soak in is a hell of a lot of work. This combined with a plethora of tourists, possessive locals, a variety of overzealous kids and rude teenagers made for a very educational morning. After a half dozen failed attempts of fighting off the hot water squatters (hole thieves), waves and simple hydrodynamics and erosion, we had the brilliant idea to construct a sea wall. It took a lot of explanation and a significant amount of patience to convince the masses to construct one great big hole and one continuous sand sea wall to hold back the surf. A lot of sweat, a few blisters and an hour later we had enough room for a dozen people. It was awesome. Picking the sand out of the various cracks and crevices of your basic human anatomy? Not so much...

Ok...Yes this is morbid. But you have to admit that it is cool. I stumbled upon this rather thin snapper on the rocks. Check out the teeth on this bugger...

Near Miranda, NZ. One of my assigned missions on my trip to New Zealand was to collect sand for my esteemed brother-in-law, Kevin. It was a mission that I failed utterly at. Whenever I was near the beach, I was either focused on having fun or collecting shells. I was constantly forgetting to bring something to put sand in. One the drive between the Coromandel Peninsula, I spotted this nice white beach in Kawakawa Bay. I figured I would run down, snap a few pictures and perhaps get some sand. There wasn't much sand. Those are shells....and I forgot the sand.

A little closer look. Can you imagine a mile or two of this?

Interesting, yes? I collected a few choice shells and proceeded to the airport from here. While going along my merry way through the airport, I came upon the first security check. Ooops...I forgot the shells in my pockets. So, I proceeded to dig them out and toss them on the counter to stow away in my carry-on. One particular spiral shell had a surprise for me. I had it in my hand examining it for a moment to distract me from the stress of getting to my plane on time, surviving security, etc. Out of the shell crawled a rather large, rather angry soft shelled crab about twice the size of the shell. How he fit, I had no idea. Needless to say there was a shout from me and a crab flying through the masses of other grumpy, stressed out travelers and security personnel. No one noticed, thankfully. One crab in garbage, all shells stowed and no international smuggling of aquatic invertebrates committed. Worth a laugh at a later date though....

And that concludes my experiences of New Zealand. You could spend your entire life there and not see everything this country has to offer. I would love to go back. If I ever get the opportunity again, I intend on taking it. So should you...